"Is that it?" Isaac asked as the roads disappeared, and he drove on hard ground.
"What?" Alice replied.
He kept his eyes on the road. "Is that the only reason you're angry?"
There was a pause before she answered. "Yes."
Isaac didn't believe her.
Maybe that was part of it, but it wasn't the whole story.
His gaze flicked to Emily.
She was looking out of the window, humming quietly.
I'll ask Alice about it later, Isaac thought. It's better if we talk alone. I need to raise her affection to 100 anyway. This might be a good chance to ask why she is angry and increase her Affection at the same time.
It wasn't that he didn't want Emily to know.
He just figured Alice would be more honest if it was just the two of them.
Whether Emily would eventually hear what Alice had to say was something he'd leave up to Alice.
"I'll handle the problem with your level up," Isaac said suddenly.
Alice raised an eyebrow. "You will?"
She didn't press further, but the curiosity was clear.
Isaac just smiled, giving her nothing more.
Emily immediately turned toward him with wide eyes. "Wait, what? How can you increase Alice's EXP?"
"It's a surprise," he said. "Anyhow, tell me about the champion rank monsters you two fought. How exactly did you fight them?"
Emily began to recount the experience in detail with a smile.
She didn't realize he had dodged her question, which made Alice let out a soft sigh.
As he drove through a long stretch of open road, Emily told Isaac about the notifications she had received upon completing the Quest.
[Tutorial Quest completed]
[+100 Bronze Coins]
[You are the subject of your Lord. +50 Bronze Coins.]
[Access to Main Quest Granted. Please choose the difficulty of future Quests: Easy, Normal, Hard.]
[Note: Once selected, difficulty cannot be changed.]
[Alert! Protocol 214AS214X-QQ is active on Emily Warren's World!]
[Quest Difficulty will be automatically chosen.]
[Difficulty 'Hell' chosen.]
[Congratulations for unlocking a Hidden Difficulty Level. All Quest rewards will be here on increased by 50%.]
[Scanning Records of Emily Warren's past Quests. Scan Complete. +50 Bronze Coins.]
[Main Quest Issued.]
[The Lord's Pride!]
[As the first subject of your Lord, you must show your formidable strength and prove that you deserve this position.]
[Quest Requirement: Defeat the Metavore Brood located in Sector 2 of Fortified City 89, by yourself, or with others while following your Lord's command.]
[Reward: 100 Silver Coins, Access to Daily Quests, Map of Inner Sectors of Fortified City 89]
Isaac raised his brows.
The wording itself was suspicious, especially the line about Protocol 214AS214X-QQ. It sounded like something external had overridden the normal quest flow.
"Hell mode was selected automatically?" he asked.
Emily nodded. "I didn't get to choose. The system just forced it on me."
That didn't seem normal, and from the sound of it, the system forced the same on other Quest holders.
But the rewards were impressive.
'100 Bronze Coins is one Silver Coin. And a hundred Silver Coins make one Gold Coin,' Isaac thought.
The reward from this quest alone was the equivalent of one Gold Coin. That was a huge payout.
With that kind of money, he could buy property in the city's core sectors—1,000 Hecatre worth, easily.
But the truly important reward wasn't the Coin.
It was the Daily Quest unlock.
According to what Professor Catherine had explained to him, Daily Quests allowed Quest holders to gain Coins regularly by completing simple tasks, which were mainly monster hunts.
Hunting stronger monsters would bring more Coins, and this was how most Lords earned Coins.
'Daily Quests are the real prize here,' he thought. 'With a steady income from them, I can start saving the money for buying the City.'
Then there was the map.
If they were going to locate the Naga presence hiding somewhere in Fortified City 89's central area, the map would prove invaluable.
Even if it didn't show precise enemy locations, it could help narrow things down.
"Good work," Isaac said, and reached out to pat Emily's head again.
Despite having received the same gesture not long ago, Emily leaned into it with a smile.
Isaac chuckled at her cat-like purrs.
Then, without looking at anyone, he gave a quiet mental command.
System. Share everything new Emily has.
A string of notifications appeared in his vision:
[+1 Agility, +4 Spirit Power]
[Title Acquired: Wind-Kissed]
[Champion Rank Monster (Common) – Summon Card x1]
[+200 Bronze Coins]
An orb of light flickered in the corner of his mind.
He focused on it, and inside, he saw a reptilian creature with sharp scales, and a whip-like tail.
It had long fangs curved inward like hooks.
The monster was exactly the same Champion-rank monster Emily had defeated earlier that day.
Isaac narrowed his eyes.
According to Emily, she had created a Beast Bond with the monster's soul using the items he had given her.
'This is surprising.'
He had expected to receive her stat growth and perhaps the new title. But the summon card and Coin share were entirely unexpected.
'The Summon Card is good,' he thought. 'Very good.'
It meant he could summon a copy of the beast Emily had tamed today.
Unlike Tirra, who had been summoned the moment she was shared, this one didn't appear in the real world immediately.
It was stored, and contained neatly inside his mind.
And that changed things.
If this was the new standard, then sharing Beast Bonds wouldn't be a headache anymore.
He wouldn't have to explain why identical monsters kept popping up around him, or worry about where to hide them.
He could just keep them in card form until needed.
'The only catch is... once I summon it, I can't de-summon it.'
Still, it was manageable.
Then his eyes flicked to the last line of the system log.
[+200 Bronze Coins]
'I got all the Coins Emily had.'
He double-checked the logs, making sure he hadn't misread anything.
The Coins she had earned from the quest were now reflected in his balance. That was new, and frankly, it was unbelievable.
He hadn't expected in his wildest guess that Coin sharing would work.
'Does that mean… I can double everything?'
A slow grin formed on his face.
If he returned those Coins to Emily, and she shared them back through the system's link again... would the Coins duplicate?
Even if it didn't work infinitely, just doing it once would be a free batch of Coins.
He looked over at her. She was still staring out the window, humming quietly, probably running through more system messages in her head.
"Emily," he called out.
She turned toward him quickly. "Yes? What is it, Isaac?"
"I have some Coins myself," he said. "I think it's better to have one person manage all our money. So, I'll give my Coins to you too."
"Huh?" She blinked, confused for half a second. Then her face lit up. "Oh! You want me to manage the money?"
Isaac nodded.
"Yes! I'll do it!" she said, hands balling up in excitement.
It wasn't just a job to her.
Managing her husband's finances—especially in a world where everything had value tied to survival—felt like a meaningful responsibility.
Something domestic, something close to what a wife might do.
After cooking, money management was the next "official" wife-like thing in her book.
She was glowing with pride.
Alice, sitting in the back, noticed everything. She glanced at Emily, then looked away sharply.
She understood exactly why Emily was so thrilled.
It hit a little too close.
After all, she had been managing Isaac's assets at the farm. Overseeing operations, organizing reports, filtering requests, and handling logistics.
She had considered it just a task at first. But now…
Now she realized the nature of her tasks. She had been acting far closer to Isaac than a girlfriend.
The thought made her ears turn red as heat crept up her neck.
It's a wife-like thing, she admitted in her head, and instantly regretted the thought.
Wi—wife?
Her brain stalled.
Steam practically rose from her head as her body temperature spiked.
She turned red, not just in her ears but all the way down to her collar. But even now, even just in her mind, she couldn't finish the word.
She turned to the window and tried to cool herself off.
But then she saw movement.
Isaac was looking at her through the rearview mirror. Their eyes met for a brief second.
He grinned at her with a playful smile. He knew exactly what had been going through her mind.
Then he mouthed the words, clearly:
'You're blushing too hard.'
Alice shot him a sharp look, then let out a small huff and twisted back toward the window.
She said nothing, but she stayed red for a while.
Isaac, chuckling to himself, looked down at Emily and extended one hand toward her while still driving with the other.
"Come on. Hold my hand. We need physical contact to transfer the Coins."
Emily slid her fingers into his without ceremony.
A soft glow formed around their hands for a second as the Coins were transferred.
[200 Bronze Coins transferred to Emily Warren]
Isaac checked his status.
As expected, he had lost the two hundred Bronze Coins he had next. Emily confirmed she had received the Coins, bringing her total balance to four hundred Bronze Coins.